"Well, sit." Harry urged.
I was reluctant to sit as I still wasn't a hundred percent comfortable around him. I didn't even know why he'd brought me along. Spending minutes in the car with him was nerve wracking enough. But I sat down.
Harry placed the menu down on the table when he was finally done deciding which cake he wanted to get. It was funny, at first glance you wouldn't ever think you'd see a guy like him go to a sweet shop to eat cake pops or muffins but... there he was. As confident as ever. Picking a treat to satisfy his sweet tooth.
A young waiter came over to us when Harry lifted his hand. "I'll have those cake pops. Mint and chocolate."
"Great choice." The waiter beamed at him before scribbling in his notepad. "Something to wash it down?"
"Give us some root beer." He probably wanted a drink that was closest to beer.
"Oh, I'm afraid we've run out of that. We have lemonade, though. Customers' favourite."
Harry's lips pursed a little as he picked up the menu again to go through the drinks they offered.
His eyebrows were slightly narrowed, small creases forming above them as he read through. I suddenly had the urge to laugh at how serious he was. I noticed that his eyes were green. I rarely saw people with green eyes.
They shot up to meet mine and I quickly looked away. I was so embarrassed. Had I been staring at him the whole time? I didn't mean to. There was just... nothing else to look at.
"I'll have the Diet Coke." Harry told the waiter and glanced back at me. "You want the same thing?"
I thought he would be the one deciding everything.
"I'll just have water."
"Water? That's boring."
"I don't like Diet Coke."
Harry looked up at the waiter who was growing a little impatient with us. "You heard her."
The waiter flashed a seemingly forced smile before ambling away. Harry leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed. He sanded his hands together, interlocking them before resting them on his stomach.
I sensed his eyes on me and it felt weird. "Relax." He said.
"What?" I looked at him.
"You're always so uptight. Let loose." His shoulders lifted a little.
"That's just how I am."
"Then you should change it. How old are you again?"
"Seventeen."
"See," He pointed a finger at me. "I forgot about that. I keep thinking you're about forty." He laughed at his own joke.
"That's hilarious." I kept a straight face.
A smirk took over his lips and I was reminded of the time they touched mine. A shudder passed through me.
"This is the first time I've seen a smile on you." He told me. "You should wear it more often."
My smile involuntarily grew wider at his remark. What was my problem? I glanced down at the little drawings on the table to distract myself from his smile.
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked him.
Harry breathed out a sigh. "Sometimes it's better to be around people who genuinely don't like you than people who pretend to like you."
I found myself pondering over what he said. There were different fragments of my perception of Harry. I wrestled with them and but there was no victor. I wasn't sure how I felt about him but I was sure that I didn't hate him, although a rational part of me constantly forced that opinion on me but I just couldn't give in.
The remainder of the night was spent feasting on cake pops and several more sweet delicacies that Harry ordered. He allowed me to order anything that I liked for the second round and he meant it. He was different tonight. It was almost as if he wasn't the person who made fun of my letters and tore them up. The tension between us loosened as time went by.
____________________
"Good night, you two had?" Mrs Briffen greeted as we entered the mansion.
"It was alright." Harry shrugged casually before chucking his keys onto the table.
Without another word, he headed up the stairs. A slam of the door sounded through the hallways just like that, he was gone for the night.
"Was it a date?" I heard Mrs Briffen ask.
I sensed the white around my eyes enlarge. "Date? What? No!"
"Just asking." Her smile was gradually wearing away and there was something in her eyes but I couldn't put my finger on it.
I was ready to go to bed. It was much needed as I'd been living off four hours of sleep. As I turned the knob of my room, I heard footsteps in the distance. I stopped and turned to see Harry.
"You know that... song. Uh..." He began.
"Song?"
"That thing you were singing..."
"Oh, the lullaby." I hoped I wasn't blushing again.
"Yeah. That. Uh..." He rubbed the nape of his neck. "What were the words?"
"Why do you ask?" I questioned, confused.
"It's just my mum used to sing it to me when I was little."
"Oh... it's um... angels watching-"
"Sing it."
"What? I-"
"Just sing it." His features were a lot more stiff now.
I swallowed hard. "Angels watching, e'er around thee, all through the night," I paused to inhale. "Midnight slumber close surround thee, all through the night." I vocalised shakily, my tone quiet but loud enough for Harry to hear.
"Continue. That isn't it." He demanded when I stopped.
I wet my drying lips. "Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,"
"Hill and dale in slumber sleeping." Harry cut in, continuing the next verse. There was no music in his voice.
"All through the night."
The green was distorted as tears brimmed his eyes. He quickly hid it by rubbing his face.
"It's just like how she sang it." He murmured.
Our eyes were locked and we stayed that way for a while before Harry tapped me underneath my chin. "Goodnight." He whispered before turning away. I felt my insides flutter and I mentally cursed myself for the reaction.